Jews, Palestinians and Arabs from East Jerusalem work side-by-side in the West Bank factory of SodaStream, the subject of a pro-Palestinian boycott. / SodaStream

by Michele Chabin, Special for USA TODAY

by Michele Chabin, Special for USA TODAY

JERUSALEM â?? At the very moment SodaStream, an Israeli company, was advertising its popular make-your-own-soft-drink gadget during the Super Bowl broadcast, pro-Palestinian activists were urging consumers to boycott the company because one of its factories is located in what they say is "an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. "

Launched by a new group called the Interfaith Boycott Coalition, the SodaStream campaign is just one of the many ways the Palestinian-led BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions) movement has tried to isolate Israel economically, culturally and academically.

Spearheaded by activists in the Arab world, the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, the 12-year-old movement is an outgrowth of the Arab League anti-Israel boycott that began in the 1940s but fizzled out amid peace talks in the mid-1990s.

Like their predecessors, BDS activists say Israel must be censured for acts of "ethnic cleansing, colonization, racial discrimination and military occupation" against the Palestinian people. They call for divestment from Israeli companies, lobby for legal sanctions against Israel and organize boycotts against companies such as Burger King, Disney and Estee Lauder because they do business with Israel.

Israel's champions say many BDS supporters are driven by anti-Semitism, not justice; that they want to destroy Israel, not reform it; and that their calls for boycotts and sanctions often fail to distinguish between products or people from within Israel's internationally recognized borders and the territories it captured in 1967.

They wonder, too, why Israel is held to a higher standard than countries with far worse human rights records.

A central goal of the BDS campaign is to convince performers, writers and intellectuals not to visit Israel, and to boycott any program or professional conference, wherever it is held, that has Israeli participants.

Activists go to great lengths to dissuade artists by explainingtheir cause and bad-mouthing performers in the news or via social media.

Omar Barghouti, a Palestinian BDS leader, said the movement "ultimately seeks to emulate the South Africa boycott" by "ostracizing Israel -- and its complicit institutions -- until it fully complies with its obligations under international law by ending its occupation, apartheid and denial of the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes" in pre-state Israel.

In recent years, Barghouti said, "several world-class performers" â?? from the Pixies and Elvis Costello to Snoop Dogg and Coldplay â?? have heeded the movement's cultural boycott and cancelled Israeli appearances.

David Brin, the Jerusalem Post's culture and managing editor, said "it's hard to know" which artists do not perform in Israel due to BDS pressure.

"But as opposed to recent years, when a number of people cancelled, tons of musicians are coming here" for solo gigs and festivals.

Elton John, Madonna, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Guns and Roses were among those who performed in Israel during the past couple of years.

Some artists defy the BDS campaign specifically to bring hope to and foster reconciliation between Jews and Arabs.

Whenever he visits Israel, Peter Yarrow, the singer from Peter, Paul and Mary and civil rights activist, meets with Arab and Jewish peace activists and schoolchildren.

"People here are desperate," Yarrow said during a 2009 visit. "They need new sources of hope. We must engage young people, and one of the key ways of doing this is via music and art."

In contrast, African-American author Alice Walker went so far as to turn down a request by an Israeli publisher to print her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple in Hebrew.

In a letter explaining her motives, Walker accused Israel of "apartheid and persecution" of the Palestinian people, "both inside Israel and also in the Occupied Territories." She hoped her refusal "will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation."

While many Arabs say they believe the BDS movement is the best way to pressure Israel to relinquish the lands it captured during the 1967 War, others say demonizing Israelis accomplishes nothing.

"Yes, there are complicated relations with Israel, but we are not at war with them," Algerian writer Boualem Sansal told reporters after he was widely vilified in the Arab world for attending a 2012 literary fair in Israel. "I am glad I visited Israel and returned with great happiness."

Nabil Bisharap, a 38-year-old father of six, worries that the boycott could lead to layoffs at SodaStream, whose West Bank factory, at the edge of the settlement of Maaleh Adumim near Jerusalem, employs about 300 Jews, 500 West Bank Palestinians and 400 Palestinian Arabs from East Jerusalem.

The Israeli factory offers benefits unheard of in the Palestinian work sector: free transportation to and from work, health insurance and salaries "four to six times" the average Palestinian salary according to company President Yonah Lloyd. It has an on-site mosque and synagogue.

Before BDS activists try to pressure Israel via boycotts, Bisharap said, "they should understand the situation. My salary is good; my conditions are good. If people stop buying, almost 1,000 Palestinians won't be able to support their families."